Eskom spent R7,1bn on diesel in FY2026, R5,71bn under budget

Eskom spent R7,1 billion on open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) in its 2026 financial year, R5,71 billion below the R12,81 billion it had budgeted, the utility said in a statement published on 4 September 2026.

The correction is aimed at a Daily Investor article published on 2 September 2026 under the headline “Eskom spent billions on diesel to keep the lights on”, which presented the approved FY2026 diesel budget as actual expenditure. Eskom called that a basic factual error that materially misrepresents its financial and operational performance.

The R7,1 billion breaks down into R4,96 billion for Eskom-owned OCGTs and R2,14 billion for independent power producer OCGTs. The utility’s full statement is

The number that moved

Actual OCGT expenditure fell from R17,7 billion in FY2025 to R7,1 billion in FY2026, a reduction of R10,6 billion, or roughly 60%.

OCGT load factors came in at 3,9% for Eskom-owned units and 3,0% for IPP units, against a budget assumption of 5,8%. Eskom links the lower spend to improved generation performance and reduced reliance on emergency generation.

Loadshedding was limited to 26 hours across four days in FY2026, against 329 days in FY2024.

What the fleet did

Eskom’s Energy Availability Factor improved to 65,16% over the year. The Unplanned Capability Loss Factor, which measures generation breakdowns, fell to a six-year low of 22,88%, averaging 10 647MW.

Loadshedding was limited to 26 hours spread across four days during FY2026. In FY2024, by contrast, the country was load shed on 329 days.

The operational result fed through to the financials. Eskom reported profit after tax of R30,3 billion for FY2026.

The trajectory into FY2027

The recovery has held into the current financial year. Diesel expenditure as of 27 August 2026 was 82,38% lower than the same point a year earlier, with the load factor averaging 1,10%.

Eskom sets the diesel line against the wider cost of load shedding. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research estimated that load shedding cost the South African economy up to R2,8 trillion in 2023.

Why the distinction matters

An approved budget and actual expenditure are different things, and the gap between them is the story. On Eskom’s figures, the utility came in R5,71 billion under its own diesel allocation for the year, at a time when its generation fleet was breaking down less often and the country was sitting in the dark for a fraction of the hours it did two years ago.

Eskom said it remains committed to transparent, fact-based reporting of its operational and financial performance. Its full-year results, published under its own reporting cycle, carry the audited position.

Source: Eskom. Read the original item.